


SWTOR: Orbital Interactions

by CanonicalMomentum



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, Gen, everyone is lesbians, overly ambitious heartbreaker, revan is a trans woman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 12:43:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6375208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanonicalMomentum/pseuds/CanonicalMomentum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SWTOR is pretty cool, what with all those eight different storylines that are overrun with heteronormativity, barely ever link to each other, and then become mutually incompatible in the expansions. Hmm, no, wait. That's kind of disappointing, really.</p>
<p>But SWTOR could be pretty cool, I think. So this is an attempt to rewrite the story of SWTOR, starting from around the end of the class storylines, with the aims of having a ton of lesbian relationships and creating a shared story driven by the characters' interactions. Aspirations: find more interesting ways to explore the whole Jedi/Sith thing, and inject a small dose of anarcho-communism.</p>
<p>It's going to be pretty long.</p>
<p>[Content note: contains discussions of slavery.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Strojen

**Author's Note:**

> Some things are different from canon: Revan is a trans woman (and Satele Shan is still descended from her and Bastila), Doc and Tharan Cedrax simply never existed, no doubt more will come up.

Ashara stood up, took a deep breath, and recited.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion  
Through passion, I gain strength  
Through strength, I gain power  
Through power, I gain victory  
Through victory, my chains are broken  
The Force shall free me."

Strojen, better known in the Empire at large as Darth Imperius, nodded to her apprentice. "That's how it goes, yes."

The low light of the practice room glittered on the intricate, shifting patterns of metal lines inlaid in Strojen's dark skin - a relic of her rebuilding at the hands of an ancient intelligence, sealed away by its masters on a planet of horrors. Ashara had known Strojen for some months now, and was becoming used to her expressions, which had moved from alarming to alarmingly attractive.

"I'm presuming..." Ashara smiled, "that like most things in Sith philosophy, you have some issues with its standard interpretation."

Strojen laughed. "Sure enough. We Sith do put an awful lot of emphasis on that little poem." She shook her head, and sighed. "The criticism is obvious. What freedom do the Sith want? Apparently the freedom to put chains on others, and place ourselves as a ruling class with no limits on caprice and cruelty. Sith 'freedom' that is necessarily at others' expense."

Ashara nodded. "It seems deeply hypocritical and self-serving."

"And yet." Strojen looked out the window. "With some minor reinterpretation, a few 'I's becoming 'we's, a little rethought about the last line - it becomes something resembling a revolutionary statement. Peace is a lie, in that even in times of 'peace' structural violence is inflicted throughout society, and this drives the anger of the slaves and others dispossesed in this Empire at the system that structures our suffering. Through our passion we gain the strength to resist. Through the strength collective action, we gain power - and because ultimately, for all the horrors of the Force, it is the ever-obedient Empire that gives Sith our true power. Should the slave classes ever collectively turn against their masters, they could defeat them. The Sith Code becomes a call, then, to forcefully resist the chains imposed by the Sith. It is not the Force that frees us: we free ourselves."

"That seems a... rather convoluted interpretation." Ashara watched the Sith doubtfully. "Not to mention rather at odds with how the Code is usually taken."

Strojen gestured assent. "True enough. I would not refer to the Sith Code as a real recipe for revolution. But..." Strojen hesitated, looking surprisingly vulnerable for one of the terrifying rulers of the Sith Empire. "As a slave trying to survive Korriban, taking the scraps of ideology they fed you - such reinterpretations are one of the small comforts you have."

"You never told me much about your time in the Academy..." Ashara tried not to make her curiousity too obvious. The Jedi knew that the Sith Academy by the opaque mass of suffering it left in the Force, that few of the would-be Sith who entered it would ever leave alive, the reports of a handful of spies who had infiltrated the Academy before the war.

"It's not generally a time I like to dwell on." Strojen swallowed, causing the metal lines in her face and neck to distort in mesmerising ways. "If you did not know when you entered, you very soon came to understand that the only way you would ever leave Korriban alive is as a Sith apprentice. The training is designed to bring about helplessness, rage and hatred, to turn it on the other apprentices or rail against the masters, so that you can draw on these emotions to use the Force. Apprentices are discarded casually, on a whim of the overseer. And with me a former slave, I should have had no chance."

"But Lord Zash chose you." Ashara had learned the broad strokes already, of course.

Strojen nodded. "Yes, though not for the reasons I thought. She wanted my body -" Ashara blushed and stifled a giggle "- no, not like that! Well, probably not..." She pretended not to hear Ashara say under her breath "wouldn't blame her, though", and continued, a little awkwardly. "Her plan was to expel me from my body through a ritual, in order to extend her life."

Ashara nodded. "Khem did something so the two of them shared a body when we met. I remember."

"So returning to the Academy... I knew that, if I could survive, I would have to seemingly betray everything I believed, everything that my family had taught me about the Sith, and become one myself. I had to reconcile that, somehow."

"You never mentioned your family." Ashara hesitated.

"No. Since I was taken - I don't know if they're still alive."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to -" Ashara said. Strojen raised a hand, and Ashara stopped.

"So I told myself this: I would betray the Sith. I would take all my anger at the structure they have built, the deaths that have served them, and turn it against them. If I were to become a Sith, it would be with one goal: to destroy the Sith. I promised myself I would be a weapon from with for all the slaves who suffered without this horrible alternative they offered me. And to achieve this, somehow, without giving in to temptation and becoming just like the others."

"You are definitely not like the Sith!" Ashara stared at her. "You're nothing like them."

"That's reassuring. But what have I done? It's not so different, I think, from the path a perfectly orthodox young Sith might take to power. I built a power base, and turned it to place me at the highest ranks of the Empire."

"Thanaton was always breathing down your neck. He would have killed you if we hadn't fought him. And we fought that battle without sacrificing people."

"I'm not so sure. But either way, he is dead, we have more power than I imagined we ever would, and the question remains, what do we do now?"

(Ashara thought to herself, I can think of something.)


	2. Progynova

"I still can't believe you just... walked away! And what an 'or else' that was." Kaliyo laughed, shaking her head. "I've had my doubts about you, Progy, but that... that was amazing."

"Thank you, Kaliyo. Like I said before, it was quite satisfying." Former Cipher agent Progynova pressed a button on the dejarik table, causing her tiny k'lor'slug to perform a meticulously animated sidestep around Kaliyo's savrips.

"Oh, nice move. But..." Kaliyo proceded to make a sensible but unimaginative move to block the k'lor'slug's advance. Expected. "So why'd you do it? I thought you were through and through the Sith's pawn. Please don't tell me you grew a conscience."

"No, not exactly. Though there are many, many things I did for them that I'm not at all proud of..."

As Kaliyo rolled her eyes, Progynova directed the k'lor'slug to make a suicidal attack on one of the savrips. Kaliyo blinked, and started to laugh, only to realise the trap Progynova had set. "Oh, clever little spy." she said, glaring playfully across the table.

"The truth, if you want it, Kaliyo? I finally understood that I had a choice between loyalty to the Imperial people, and loyalty to the Sith. The choice was obvious."

"Well, it's a start." Kaliyo shrugged magnanimously. "Though if you want to bring down the Sith, wiping out the Star Cabal was kind of a bad beginning."

Progynova raised an eyebrow. "A secret Star Cabal ruling the galaxy would hardly be an improvement. And for all their machinations - they could not upset an entire entrenched social class. The Empire must ultimately rebel openly if it's going to cast down the Sith."

Kaliyo grinned widely. "Well, well. Perhaps you have a little anarchist in you after all, 'agent'." 

"Your terrible influences, I'm sure."

The door to the compartment beeped, and Progynova signaled through her implants to make it open. Raina Temple, once upon a time an Ensign, stood in the doorway, wringing her hands. "Sir, I - we've received a message. You probably won't like it."

"Thank you, Raina." Raina flinched, barely perceptibly, at the use of her first name instead of her old rank. "Put it through."

The Dejarik pieces disappeared (Progynova's win being, in any case, certain), to be replaced with the unmistakable figure of a Sith. The woman looked like she must be tall; her white and red robe consisted of intricate patterns of fibers and technology that clearly integrated with cybernetics beneath. Her hair was drawn into a tight bun, and her face - the only visible part of her skin - was patterned in complex metal lines. Beside her stood a Togruta woman, wearing armour that clearly belonged to a Jedi tradition.

"Darth Imperius." Progynova said aloud. "The Dark Council's newest. I wonder how she found us?" She signalled the message to begin playing.

"Cipher Nine. I apologise for using this old title, but I do not know what else to call you." The Sith seemed hesitant. "I should first say, this is not an official message. The Dark Council has no knowledge that I am sending this, and I hope you will keep it that way."

"Interesting..." Progynova frowned. "Is she hoping to pull me into some sort of power play?"

"You may recall that we have worked together before."

Progynova blinked, pausing the recording. "Hold on a minute. Is that..."

"Fuck me, that's Strojen." Kaliyo laughed. "I knew she was going places, but the Dark Council?"

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You were there too when we fought Revan." Progynova peered at the Sith in the projection. "I suppose she wants to start making good on her whole 'destroy the Sith' thing."

"You know." Kaliyo said. "I think she might actually have a chance."

Raina was staring open-mouthed. "Are you telling me..." she said, "that there is a traitor on the Dark Council itself?"

"We are." Progynova leaned back in her chair. "Kaliyo and I have worked with Strojen a few times. She rather foolishly divulged some of her aspirations to me."

"You mean, you seduced them out of her." Kaliyo smirked.

"Well, not intentionally. But perhaps." Progynova batted her eyelashes, and Kaliyo snorted loudly.

"And Revan? You don't mean Darth Revan, from the history holos?"

"We do, actually." Progynova said. "She was, despite what everyone thought, still alive. One of the most highly classified secrets in the Empire. I never knew the full details until we stole the Black Codex."

"Your 'glorious Emperor' was torturing her for what, 300 years?" Kaliyo elaborated. "He was really pissed off."

"A Republic team secured her release."

"By which she means they stormed the prison and killed everyone inside but her, Grand Moff included."

"How else? In any case, Revan apparently knew of another Rakata manufacturing facility, and attempted to exterminate anyone even a little genetically related to Sith. Kaliyo, Vector and I accompanied Strojen and a number of others to infiltrate and shut down the facility."

"Our girl Strojen went with the, what do you call it, Emperor's Grump?"

"The new Wrath, Lord Anaander. Though your name is better."

"Yeah, her. They went and stabbed Revan a lot of times. Wish I'd seen it, honestly."

"Wow." Raina said. "That's a lot to take in."

Progynova sent a silent signal to begin a ship-wide announcement and invite over Vector, SCORPIO and Lokin. It did not take them long to arrive. She pressed the button for Strojen to continue.

"You have covered your tracks very well, Agent - if I did not remember you, I could easily believe you really were a myth. For that reason, I am taking a risk in assuming your patience with the Sith has at last run out."

"This Sith is reckless. It will be her downfall." SCORPIO declared, flatly.

"As I once told you, I wish to bring a permanent end to the Sith class, not through external conquest, but by creating the conditions for revolution. It will take a very long time, and I will need powerful allies to put the pieces into place. I can think of none better than you." Strojen inclined her head, and continued. "I have included directions to establish a secure channel. An opportunity has presented itself, and if you wish to help me, it is quite urgent."

"Straight to the point. Admirable enough." Doctor Lokin said. "But are we really considering such a grandiose plan? For all this woman's supposedly noble intentions, this is as much self-aggrandising folly as that ridiculous statue in the Kaas City jungle."

"Don't spoil this, Eckers. I love it!" Kaliyo playfully punched his arm, causing him to wince. "Like, you know I've worked with all sorts of anarchists and revolutionaries, Progy, anyone with a grudge against someone big and powerful who wants a little violence to settle it. But it was all small scale shit. This? This is what we've all been waiting for! It's not every day one of the most powerful sorcerors in the galaxy says she intends to fulfill every dream you have!"

Progynova raised an eyebrow. "Every dream?"

"The Sith have largely proved irrelevant to my self-improvement directive." SCORPIO interrupted. "Nevertheless, this woman's resources may be useful. Proceed as you wish." She turned sharply and left the room.

Progynova shrugged. "Raina? Vector?"

"This is... I feel ill. I can't stop thinking, I have to serve the Sith, turn in the traitors! I have to do my duty! But... but I don't think I really believe it anymore. I think that little voice is, is... I need some time, Progy."

"Of course. What about you, Vector?" she said, watching xer solid black eyes. It was hard to tell, with Vector, whether xe was in the room, or communing with the hive.

"We are sorry. We needed to discuss this. The hive is uncertain. A need for change is written in the stars, but we do not know what form it should take. We like the Empire, but we do not like the Sith. Our alliance was difficult. We will trust your judgment."

"Thank you, Vector. I hope your confidence is not misplaced." Progynova peered at the hologram. "I believe there is nothing to be lost in contacting her. I must admit I'm curious about her urgent opportunity..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purposes of this story, Vector is nonbinary, and should not be referred to with he/him pronouns.


	3. Orobel

"Master Orobel, do you have a moment?" Kira said, her formality belying nervousness. "There's something has been troubling me since we encountered Master Braga."

"Of course, Kira. What's on your mind?" Orobel's face was covered by a veil, as was common among the galaxy's surviving Miralukans, who did not use eyes to see. Kira no longer found this unnerving, but still sometimes wished she could read her master's expressions.

"It is... I'm worried about falling to the Dark Side. I'm worried that we even have words for 'falling to the dark side'. It's one thing to give into anger and hurt someone, but... we've seen so many Jedi decide the only answer to failing to live up to the Code was to throw themselves wholeheartedly into mass murder and cruelty. Everyone always talks about the dangers of 'Falling to the Dark Side', but why is it so... likely? What makes Jedi so... dangerous?"

Orobel took a deep breath. "That's quite a big question, Kira. And I'm sorry I've never fully addressed it. Come on, let's sit down."

Kira continued. "It's just, sometimes 'light side' and 'dark side' seem like a revolving door. Everything's always so extreme, the kindest, most heroic person around can leap to the other end of the scale and become absolutely merciless, and then a ten minute conversation with you and a lightsaber fight, and they're right back around to being good again? The more I think about it, the less it makes sense."

"To be honest, Kira, I've been having the same thoughts." Orobel sighed.

Kira blinked. "Really?"

"There are a few theories. Some say the Dark Side of the Force has a mind of its own, and that, when it sees a weakness, it works on the mind of a Jedi to turn her towards cruelty. Others blame it on the dualistic beliefs of the Jedi ourselves - they say if we did not insist the only alternative to perfect Jedi diligence was to turn to the Sith, we might lose fewer Jedi to them. Whatever we believe, it's impossible to deny: a very great many of the most powerful Sith, from Exar Kun to Revan, got their start as Jedi Knights."

"Yeah!" Kira said. "We must be doing something very wrong if we keep spitting out people like... them."

"Traditionally I should say that, if not for Jedi training, there would be a whole lot more people like them." Orobel sounded uncertain.

"But what makes someone do that? What makes you think 'oh, I am so angry I might just invade the entire galaxy to place everyone under my boot'?"

"The idea is that there's some great conscious monster out there in the Force, the thing we call the 'Dark Side', which takes a moment of vulnerability to infiltrate you and subvert everything you believe. Jedi are just more exposed to its influence than most people."

"Do you believe that?"

"Honestly, Kira? I don't know. But how else can you explain the Sith?"

"But if that's true, Master... by training young people to be Jedi, aren't putting the galaxy at risk of more Sith? Does the good we do really outweigh that?"

"Maybe, in the long term." Orobel said. "But while the Empire is still out there, we must train Force users to oppose them."

"I used to think that, maybe, the Jedi should rule the Republic." Kira said, softly. "Now... now, I'm wondering if there should be Jedi at all. What's gotten into me?"

Orobel slid her chair over to her student, and hugged her tightly.

A series of beeps from T7-O1 interrupted them. "Satele Shan = on holo. // Satele Shan says report = requested!"

"Come on." Orobel said. "We'd better tell her what Master Braga told us."

Kira nodded, wiping away a tear. She followed Orobel into the holocom room, where the former Lord Scourge, massive red-skinned Pureblood Sith, acknowledged them with a curt nod. An image of Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan flickered into view and stabilised.

"Supreme Commander Orobel." Satele said, with a smile. "It's a relief to see you safe."

"Grandmaster Satele." Orobel said, bowing her head respectfully. "Our mission was successful. We have captured Master Braga's flagship, and he has surrendered to Jedi custody."

"Congratulations. This is a great victory." Satele said. "But I sense there is more?"

"Before he surrendered, Master Braga said..." Orobel hesitated. "He said the Sith Emperor is on Dromund Kaas. I do not think he was lying."

"That is pressing news." Satele said, looking thoughtful. "But why would the Emperor leave the safety of his station?"

Scourge spoke, his voice flat as ever. "I suspect we have made him vulnerable, but not for long. Perhaps he knows a way to recover his strength in the Dark Temple, or perhaps he intends to sacrifice a planet where we cannot easily reach him. We must strike!"

"I'm all for killing the Emperor," Kira said, "But attack Dromund Kaas? We would never breach the defenses."

"I was the Wrath." Scourge said, curtly. "I know how to land on Dromund Kaas."

"The Empire has surely changed their security since you... left." Orobel said. "Without help from the inside, we could not know what's different."

"In that regard, I believe I have an answer." Satele said.

Kira raised an eyebrow. "A defector? The SIS?"

"An ally from within the Dark Council itself."

Kira stared, open-mouthed. "You're joking, Master Satele."

"Not at all." Satele said. "Our ally is Darth Imperius, a very recent appointment. She She killed Darth Thanaton and took his place in what we thought was a typical Sith power-play. But the SIS believes she is responsible for leaking military information, and acts of sabotage, throughout the war."

"I trust your judgment, Master Satele." Orobel said, hesitantly. "But how can you know this is not a trap?"

"A sensible question." Scourge said.

"We cannot know for sure, of course. And we must be careful." Satele said. "What I can tell you is this. She sent Ashara Zavros, a former Padawan, to deliver the message in person. I have interviewed Ashara extensively - her story is outlandish, but she shows no sign of being misled. Our Darth Imperius is not a Jedi, by any means. She draws her power from passion, not serenity; we should expect her to be a tyrannical sadist like the other Sith. Yet, if Ashara's story is to be believed - and we are researching the details, but so far everything checks out - Darth Imperius is in reality some sort of anarchist, working to bring down the Empire from within."

"A pretty story. I am surprised the Jedi are so gullible." Scourge said. "You will trust this woman at your peril."

"Uh, Scourge?" Kira said. "Are you really going to pull the 'never trust a Sith' card, given, uh... you know."

Scourge looked at her contemptuously. "I should certainly hope you are not so stupid as to trust me."

Satele continued. "Trustworthy or not, we have been testing the codes and security information she has provided. With her help, we have landed probe droids on Dromund Kaas for the first time since the war began. We have determined a safe route for you to land your ship at the outskirts of Kaas City."

"That might serve." Scourge said. "I know of a shuttle that carries the Emperor's servants to and from the Dark Temple."

"Are we doing this, then?" Kira said. "Attacking Dromund Kaas?"

"T7 == ready for anything!" T7 piped up, enthusiastically.

"We do not have a choice." Scourge said. "The Emperor must be killed, whatever the cost."

"I am afraid to say that Scourge is right. We must move quickly, while the Imperial fleets are still over Corellia. I will command our fleet in a diversionary attack and draw any remaining Imperial ships away from orbit." Satele said. She looked directly at Orobel. "You, Orobel, are the only Jedi to have shaken off the Emperor's control."

"I understand, Master Satele." Orobel said. "I know what we have to do." She looked around the room, taking in the faces of her crew. All looked determined. "We will land on Dromund Kaas, and stop the Emperor, once and for all."

**Author's Note:**

> The in-game version of Strojen, and the other main characters, can be viewed [here](http://canonicalmomentum.tumblr.com/post/139110657612/the-gang-click-on-the-pictures-to-see-names-and)


End file.
